Last Modified: Sunday, May 26, 2013 at 12:44 a.m.

Joye had been stuck on campus because of other duties at the school and had to fly out on his own for the Junior College World Series in Grand Junction, Colo. He was supposed to arrive Friday night, but his flight from Cleveland, after leaving from Greenville-Spartanburg airport, was delayed three hours, so he missed his connection in Denver and had to spend the night.

Finally, he got to the team hotel at about 9 a.m., just in time to check in before the Pioneers left to eat at 10:45 a.m., four hours before the opening game against Walters State at Suplizio Field.

“All right! It's JJ.”

“JJ's in the house.”

“Nice to see you, sir. Glad you could make it.”

Some didn't even notice he was there until halfway through brunch.

“Hey, when did you get here?”

Since Tuesday, Joye was keeping up with the team mostly through text messages, Twitter and Facebook.

“Man, it was killing me,” he said.

Need to hydrate

Eating was light, at least for some, at the pregame meal because breakfast at the hotel was pancakes. Most of the players kept it to fruit and water, an expensive check for a party of 30-plus at a buffet.

SMC's starting pitcher for the first game, Dylan Rogers, who hates to drink water even though it's been highly recommended out here in the desert, did have water. But it was in the form of ice cubes in his soda. Closer Cody Mincey didn't eat or drink anything and that was a bit of a concern.

Those were to be the bookend arms of an SMC victory. Pitching coach Matt Williams wants Rogers to get to Rickey Rice, then Josh Escoffier, and then Mincey. Of course, the ultimate would be from Rogers to Mincey.

Fowl ball

Traffic holdup on the way back from lunch was caused by the smallest of culprits.

A duckling following its mother across a crowded street got to the other side but couldn't get over the curb. So people were out of their cars and off their motorcycles trying to corral the duck. It was scooting right past them and between their legs.

“They sent their worst infielders for this job,” head coach Tim Wallace said.

Finally, a woman scooped up the duckling.

There was applause.

Time to focus

Definite mood change between lunch and 30 minutes later when the team loaded the bus again, headed to Canyon View Park for batting practice before going to the stadium.

While before, the players were singing and laughing and making strange noises (maybe some of that was singing), now they were completely quiet.

They were in uniform. Guys who would wear eye black already had their faces smeared. On the bus radio was the first tournament game. As they hit the field, the game was also being broadcast on the public address system.

SMC was next. It was time.

Motivational message

As the bus rolled into its parking spot at Suplizio Field, the game prior to SMC's was ending early, 12-2, by mercy rule. The Pioneers would go straight into the visitors' dugout. No waiting.

Wallace had this to say to his team:

“If you want to win this thing, you have to go ahead and decide that you're selling out on everything. You're chesting-up every ground ball. You're running down every fly ball. You're running out every ball you hit. You have to sell out if we're going to win. If not, you'll be out of here. If you don't go 100 percent on every pitch, every play, you will be out of here. It's great to get here. It's embarrassing to lose and go home early, especially with the talent we have. … If you get on base, be aggressive. I said it when we started running, we'll live or die by it. We've done a whole lot of living. So stay aggressive on the base paths, make other people make plays. … Play our game. Don't change. Just because the scenery has changed, just because the backstop has changed, just because there are grandstands, it's the same game. If we play the game the way we've been playing all year, we'll be fine.”

Blowout and barbecue

The game was a back-and-forth offensive explosion, 10 runs each through six innings, but SMC pulled away for a big win, 19-11.

Afterward, Wallace told the team: “Some of you guys need to wipe the bright lights and glare out of your eyes. It's the same game anywhere we play. Go out there and throw strikes. Offensively, good job swinging the bats. Nice job making plays. We've just got to pitch a little better.”

Last year, as Wallace says, the Pioneers were two and barbecue, two straight losses and headed home to Spartanburg. This year, it was one and barbecue. But the one was a big win and the barbecue was a dinner provided by a local rotary group.

<p>GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. — There were high-fives and handshakes for assistant coach Jeremy Joye as the Spartanburg Methodist players filed onto the bus Saturday morning for pregame brunch.</p><p>Joye had been stuck on campus because of other duties at the school and had to fly out on his own for the Junior College World Series in Grand Junction, Colo. He was supposed to arrive Friday night, but his flight from Cleveland, after leaving from Greenville-Spartanburg airport, was delayed three hours, so he missed his connection in Denver and had to spend the night.</p><p>Finally, he got to the team hotel at about 9 a.m., just in time to check in before the Pioneers left to eat at 10:45 a.m., four hours before the opening game against Walters State at Suplizio Field.</p><p>“All right! It's JJ.”</p><p>“JJ's in the house.”</p><p>“Nice to see you, sir. Glad you could make it.”</p><p>Some didn't even notice he was there until halfway through brunch.</p><p>“Hey, when did you get here?”</p><p>Since Tuesday, Joye was keeping up with the team mostly through text messages, Twitter and Facebook.</p><p>“Man, it was killing me,” he said.</p><p><b>Need to hydrate</b></p><p>Eating was light, at least for some, at the pregame meal because breakfast at the hotel was pancakes. Most of the players kept it to fruit and water, an expensive check for a party of 30-plus at a buffet. </p><p>SMC's starting pitcher for the first game, Dylan Rogers, who hates to drink water even though it's been highly recommended out here in the desert, did have water. But it was in the form of ice cubes in his soda. Closer Cody Mincey didn't eat or drink anything and that was a bit of a concern. </p><p>Those were to be the bookend arms of an SMC victory. Pitching coach Matt Williams wants Rogers to get to Rickey Rice, then Josh Escoffier, and then Mincey. Of course, the ultimate would be from Rogers to Mincey.</p><p><b>Fowl ball</b></p><p>Traffic holdup on the way back from lunch was caused by the smallest of culprits.</p><p>A duckling following its mother across a crowded street got to the other side but couldn't get over the curb. So people were out of their cars and off their motorcycles trying to corral the duck. It was scooting right past them and between their legs.</p><p>“They sent their worst infielders for this job,” head coach Tim Wallace said.</p><p>Finally, a woman scooped up the duckling.</p><p>There was applause.</p><p><b>Time to focus</b></p><p>Definite mood change between lunch and 30 minutes later when the team loaded the bus again, headed to Canyon View Park for batting practice before going to the stadium.</p><p>While before, the players were singing and laughing and making strange noises (maybe some of that was singing), now they were completely quiet. </p><p>They were in uniform. Guys who would wear eye black already had their faces smeared. On the bus radio was the first tournament game. As they hit the field, the game was also being broadcast on the public address system.</p><p>SMC was next. It was time.</p><p><b>Motivational message</b></p><p>As the bus rolled into its parking spot at Suplizio Field, the game prior to SMC's was ending early, 12-2, by mercy rule. The Pioneers would go straight into the visitors' dugout. No waiting.</p><p>Wallace had this to say to his team:</p><p>“If you want to win this thing, you have to go ahead and decide that you're selling out on everything. You're chesting-up every ground ball. You're running down every fly ball. You're running out every ball you hit. You have to sell out if we're going to win. If not, you'll be out of here. If you don't go 100 percent on every pitch, every play, you will be out of here. It's great to get here. It's embarrassing to lose and go home early, especially with the talent we have. … If you get on base, be aggressive. I said it when we started running, we'll live or die by it. We've done a whole lot of living. So stay aggressive on the base paths, make other people make plays. … Play our game. Don't change. Just because the scenery has changed, just because the backstop has changed, just because there are grandstands, it's the same game. If we play the game the way we've been playing all year, we'll be fine.”</p><p><b>Blowout and barbecue</b></p><p>The game was a back-and-forth offensive explosion, 10 runs each through six innings, but SMC pulled away for a big win, 19-11.</p><p>Afterward, Wallace told the team: “Some of you guys need to wipe the bright lights and glare out of your eyes. It's the same game anywhere we play. Go out there and throw strikes. Offensively, good job swinging the bats. Nice job making plays. We've just got to pitch a little better.”</p><p>Last year, as Wallace says, the Pioneers were two and barbecue, two straight losses and headed home to Spartanburg. This year, it was one and barbecue. But the one was a big win and the barbecue was a dinner provided by a local rotary group.</p>